Adventures in Time
by IlluZen
Summary: Somewhat AUish. A machine malfunctions, scattering the expedition members across Earth 5 years in the past. And that's just the beginning... Set before Tao of Rodney, Super spoiler warning no episode is safe, and a lot of SG1 crossover.


**Adventures in Time**

**Chapter 1**

IlluZen

_**Summary:** McKay finds a machine that could solve all of their energy problems, and when it malfunctions, the Atlantis Expedition members find themselves scattered across Earth five years in the past. Can they regroup and find their way back to Atlantis with a dangerous paramilitary governmental agency hot on their trail?_

_**Setting:** Season 3, right before "Tao of Rodney"_

_**Spoilers:** All Stargate SG1 episodes, and all Atlantis episodes up to (and including) season 3 (except the super Sunday spoiler--I'm not that cruel). If you're worried about spoilers, though, this isn't the story for you. I made a point to incorporate as much canon into the story as possible for both Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG1. Think of it as a reward for those with an understanding of the Stargate universe. :)_

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything in the Stargate universe (including Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis), and no copyright infringement was intended._

_I also want to thank my wonderful beta, ValleyA, for her wonderful corrections and suggestions. All remaining mistakes are mine. ...Lol, eat crow, that one just floored me. _

---oOo---

Some things in life just don't turn out the way you want them to, Rodney thought to himself. For example, take that damn bet he made with Zelenka. A couple of hours ago, he'd had no doubt that he'd be able to turn off all the stupid devices the Ancients had left running when they lost control of the city to the human-form replicators, all with just the push of a few buttons. Back then, the power distribution systems for Atlantis had seemed so easy to navigate. Yet, here he was, 2 am and still stuck in his lab, no closer to a solution than when he had started.

Frustrated, the scientist snatched a Powerbar out of the top drawer of his desk and leaned back in his chair, chewing furiously. He knew Radek wasn't going to let this go, not for a very, very long time. It wasn't the month's pay that Rodney was especially worried about. After all, what good are dollars in the Pegasus galaxy, millions of light years away from the nearest retail outlet? He hated to admit it, but there were just some things he couldn't do. And Zelenka's teasing definitely irked him too. Considering the level of Czech-based torture Rodney received last time, after he blew up five-sixths of a solar system, he could trust that the scientist would milk this for all it was worth, just as surely as no amount of brushing would ever make Sheppard's hair stay down.

"Damn it!" Rodney cursed to himself, realizing there was nothing he could do now but accept the inevitable teasing. "I need another option...Damn damn damn, I hate eating crow!"

As much as he hated it, though, he still prepared himself for the long treks through the damaged parts of the city with an overly smug Zelenka at his side. Throwing the empty Powerbar wrapper aside, the astrophysicist closed his connection to the power distribution system and opened a new one to the Ancient Database. At the very least he could find out a bit more about the purposes of these devices and plan a time-table for turning them all off. Damn, if only the devices were closer together! Only two of the devices were within easy walking distance of each other--but all the way in the East Pier, no less--so Rodney decided to start there.

After a few minutes clacking away on his laptop, he found something that made him sit up. Huh. If the Database was correct, this could solve a lot of problems for Atlantis. A smile spread itself slowly across Dr. McKay's face. Yeah, he had lost the bet, but what he may have just found would make it worth all the teasing in the world.

---oOo---

Radek greeted the sun just as the first rays began to peek over the nearly endless ocean of Lantea. From that point on, he just knew it was going to be a good day. His smile widened as he approached the labs: someone was already working inside, and Zelenka didn't need three tries to guess who it was. He had a feeling that Rodney would stay up all night trying to win their little bet. By the sound of it, he could already surmise that McKay had lost. Ha! That egotistical pain in the ass never knew when to stop. Yes, this was going to be a very good day for Radek.

However, he was surprised when he turned the corner, taking a look around. Judging by the number of wrappers strewn about, Rodney had indeed been up all night, but it was not the power distribution system he was working on. Instead, he had a naquadah generator and one of the burned out ZPMs spread out across his desk.

"What are you doing?" Radek asked, his Czech accent strong.

Rodney looked up from his work, smiling absentmindedly. "Zelenka, finally!" Rodney greeted his colleague enthusiastically.

Though the genius definitely looked tired, he was full of excitement, like a kid in a candy store. The sight put Radek on guard instantly: the last time McKay was this excited, he accidentally destroyed most of a solar system. Radek knew Rodney was well-meaning, but sometimes the man forgot that there were limits to what things they could understand here in the city, and often chased after the experiments that could easily kill him. Every once and a while he needed Radek to be the voice of reason, even if McKay railed against Zelenka's opinion and berated him mercilessly for saying the very words the man most needed to hear. Sometimes Rodney needed Radek to take a month's pay out of him, just to deflate that ego a little bit, and these little bets of theirs were the most beneficial way for both of them.

"You need to see this," Rodney continued, handing him a touch-tablet.

"So, you were able to turn off the machines remotely then, yes?" Radek asked, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose to examine the screen.

"Well, no," McKay admitted, then hastily added, "but this is much more important than that. I think it might be a ZedPM manufacturing machine."

Radek's eyebrows climbed his forehead as he skimmed through the information.

"The database was infuriatingly brief about the process," Rodney explained, too impatient to wait for Zelenka to read the data pad, "but it does list the three steps to create a fully functioning ZedPM. The first is obviously the 'Creation' step, where the machine uses a subspace field generator to artificially create a bubble of subspace-time. Next, the device 'Energizes' the pocket of subspace by flooding it with some specific type of energy to increase the zero-point inside, where the zero-point is..."

"Rodney," Radek interrupted, rolling his eyes, "I know what the zero-point is. I'm a scientist too, remember?" Of course Zelenka knew that the zero-point was the base amount of energy a vacuum (like outer space) can have.

"Oh. Right," Rodney harumphed, his brow furrowing in irritation at being interrupted.

"How did they manage to accomplish this, though? The Ancients, I mean. The zero-point is a cosmological constant, it can't be changed," Radek postulated.

"Well, if we're able to take energy out of it, obviously we should be able to put energy into it as well," Rodney sneered, the condescending tone clearly audible. "Anyways, obviously the Ancients found a way, making ZedPMs that much stronger."

"The physics involved in this is amazing," Radek mused, his interest piqued.

"Yeah," Rondey agreed before continuing with his explanation. "Anyways, the last step in the process, called the 'Containment' step, builds the outer shell of the ZedPM." McKay picked up the dead ZPM for emphasis. "It's very important that this step be carried out properly because it keeps the subspace bubble from exploding and spilling dangerous exotic particles into our own space-time, which would be bad."

McKay nodded to himself, pleased by his discovery, and waited a second for Radek to respond. But, the man was too impatient to wait for long. "So?" Rodney prompted when Zelenka hadn't looked up from the tablet.

"So, what?"

"C'mon, Radek! A ZedPM manufacturing machine! ...A ZedPM manufac...tory. Manufactory," he said, pausing as he tried out the name he'd obviously just devised for the device. Zelenka couldn't help but chuckle at the look of sheer delight that spread across his face at the sound of it. Honestly, Rodney was the most transparent human being he'd ever met.

"We'd have to check with Dr. Weir first," Zelenka relented, knowing there was no way he could talk Rodney out this. Not that he especially wanted to.

"Okay." McKay bounded out of his chair and headed for the door.

"What, now?" Radek exclaimed, running to catch up.

"Of course! I want to get started immediately."

Grumbling in Czech, Radek fell into step with Rodney. "That's one month's pay you owe me, by the way," he added.

"What?"

"For the power distribution systems. You couldn't shut the machines down remotely. That was the bet."

"Did it occur to you that if I _had_ been able to shut them down, we wouldn't have known there was a ZedPM manufactory right here under our very noses?" Rodney was trying worm his way out of paying up, but Radek wouldn't have it.

"You still could not shut it down remotely."

"Hey! Neither could you!"

"I did not bet everyone a month's pay that I could do it."

"Oh, come on!"

Their bickering continued all the way to Dr. Weir's office. Yes, today was indeed going to be a very good day; not just for Radek, but for everyone in Atlantis, he decided with an even bigger smile.

---oOo---

Elizabeth always tried to be among the first people to come to the main operations center in the morning, mainly because during the day it was always so busy. But now, it was still perfectly quiet, just the way she liked it. She greeted the technician on duty, and headed straight to her office. Today she had quite a few mission reports to file, as well as the scheduled report back to Earth. She opened her stylish little laptop and began typing when the familiar voice of Dr. McKay echoed through the gateroom. He and Dr. Zelenka came into view as they crested the stairs, obviously making a bee-line straight for her door. She sighed. There went her quiet morning.

Elizabeth's eyes flicked from one scientist to the other, her mouth twitching into an amused smile as they entered her office. They were both arguing enthusiastically--as was the normal order of business for the two--but it definitely seemed more a good-natured banter rather than a full-blown argument. Something about a bet, from the sounds of it. But that couldn't be what brought both of them to her office this morning. Usually when they came together like this, it was with bad news, but something in their demeanor told her that, for once, it might actually be something a bit more optimistic. She could definitely use some good news right about now; something positive to offset the recent loss of the small group of Ancients they had rescued from the void between galaxies.

"Good morning, you two," she interrupted with a smile. "What brings you to my office so early?"

Radek opened his mouth to respond, but as usual, Rodney steamrollered right over top of him to reply first. "What if I told you we might never need to go hunting for another ZedPM again?" Rodney asked, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"What?" Dr. Weir exclaimed, somewhat skeptically. Whatever they had found, it sounded too good to be true, and knowing McKay, there was a strong chance that it was. The genius didn't exactly have a very good track record with these kinds of experiments. Yet, Zelenka was also here and looked optimistic as well, and he was much more cautious than his Canadian counterpart.

"We think we've found a ZPM manufactory," Radek chipped in, taking advantage of the silence before Rodney could interrupt him again. "In the East Pier."

The astrophysicist shot Zelenka a withering glare: obviously he had been planning some grand, long-winded speech and didn't appreciate being interrupted. Elizabeth was grateful, though. Sometimes McKay just didn't know when to cut to the chase.

"A ZPM manu..." she tried cautiously.

"Manufactory," Rodney finished for her, beaming. His blue eyes twinkled with the possibilities. "As in a machine that manufactures ZedPMs. Clever, huh?"

"Well, actually it manufactures the artificial bubble of subspace-time where a ZPM's energy is stored first, then--" Zelenka corrected.

McKay rolled his eyes in exasperation and sighed melodramatically. "Yes, yes. Obviously the process is very complicated," he replied haughtily. "Needless to say, I think we can get it up and running."

"We just wanted to check with you first," Zelenka added, shrugging self-consciously. He pushed his glasses further up his nose as both he and Rodney looked to her expectantly, hoping for the go-ahead.

The excitement rolling off McKay and Zelenka was infectious. If they could make their own ZPMs, then they'd finally be able to run this city at full capacity, they'd be able to adequately protect themselves against their numerous enemies, and they might even be able to offer Earth a solution to all its energy problems. It was for discoveries just like this that their expedition team had been sent to the Pegasus Galaxy in the first place. However, the problem was always power. Anything that could make that much power could easily blow up Atlantis if something went wrong.

"If you two think this machine can make us some ZPMs, I definitely want you to check it out, but don't turn it on until we know exactly what we're dealing with. We don't want to blow up our home right after we saved it from the replicators," she added wryly.

"Actually," Rodney said, flushing a bit, "The manufactory is already on. It's been running on idle since the replicator attack."

Zelenka nodded. "That's how we found it in the first place,"

Rodney snorted, turning on Radek. "We?" he scoffed. "So, you're willing to take the all the credit and a month's pay, is that how this works? Tha--"

"Rodney!" Dr. Weir snapped, cutting him short. He jumped, but remained silent.

She didn't like the sound of that one bit. It would make sense that the Ancients would want more ZPMs to power the city, but she was still a little squeamish about sending her people to fix machines that they had only the barest understanding of, especially when they were already powered up and dangerous.

"Okay, just be very careful," she said slowly, pinning both scientists with a look. "We can't afford to lose either of you, or the city."

They nodded and turned to leave, already arguing about whether or not to bring a burned-out ZPM along, to use for parts.

"Those two," she chuckled to herself, shaking her head. She got back to work on those reports, glad for a bit of very good news to report back to Earth later this morning.

---oOo---

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard had never been a morning person, but as a military man, he really didn't have much choice in the matter. He woke up at a respectable 7 am, just like he always did, and changed into his PT uniform for a brisk jog around the city. After he was done, he would eat breakfast with Teyla, Ronon, and Rodney--that is, if the lazy astrophysicist was even awake by that time--followed by a nice spar at the gym with whomever would have him. Honestly, he preferred Teyla: she was less likely to land him in Dr. Beckett's infirmary than Ronon was. And after a little sparring, he would probably finish writing mission reports, the absolute worst part of his job.

On the whole, he had a pretty average morning planned once he started jogging. He decided he would like to run through the East Pier--hadn't been down there for a while, at least--so that's where he went. He wasn't the only officer that appreciated runs through the deserted parts of the city. On his way out, he ran into a very sweaty Major Lorne who, by the looks of it, was just on his way back.

"Morning, Major," Sheppard called to his friend, who quickly saluted in reply, a twinkle in his eye.

"If you're looking for a quiet run, sir, I suggest finding another route," Lorne warned him. "Dr. McKay's found himself a new toy down there," he added with a laugh before continuing on down the corridor.

Sheppard allowed a smirk to crawl its way across his face. Rodney-baiting was one of his favorite pastimes. It was worth making a detour just to bother his abrasive teammate.

Just as Lorne had predicted, a few hallways down he could clearly hear the familiar voice of Dr. McKay echoing up and down the damp corridor. Sheppard couldn't make out what he was saying, but John knew his teammate was probably either arguing with Zelenka about some calculation, or else chewing out one of the junior scientists.

When John finally found the lab where the scientists were working, he decided to wait by the door for a second, stretching to keep his muscles from getting stiff while he watched Zelenka and McKay wage verbal war over a broken crystal. The rest of the science staff had drifted to a standstill, watching the two men, transfixed. It was a mark of how involved Rodney was in this debate that he didn't even notice; otherwise, John knew Atlantis's head scientist would have sent them all hopping with a few choice remarks.

"I'm telling you, nothing's going to happen! The main power regulator's shot! There's no way any power can get to the subspace field generator! No field generator, no subspace bubble. No bubble, no ZedPM. No ZedPM, no problem! Our work would go a lot faster if we just power up the main console here!" Rodney insisted, gesturing wildly to the dark console on the side of the Ancient machine.

It was definitely odd, even by Atlantis standards, but it still did look Ancienty. In the center of the room, there was a small pedestal about the perfect size for a ZPM. Floating above it without any obvious support was a small marble of what looked like glass. Sheppard wondered what that part of the machine was for. From where Rodney and Radek were standing on the left side of the room, the machine branched out and over the pedestal, embossed with those decorative designs the Ancients put on everything they made. Under the console Rodney so obviously wanted to turn on, the panel had been opened up, revealing neat rows of blue glowing crystals broken only by a few dark patches where some of them were either damaged or had been removed.

"Dr. Weir told us to be careful, Rodney! We have absolutely no idea how the manufactory could react, with or without the regulator crystal! Until we do, I suggest we take it slow. Get the monitors and computers up and running first, so we know what we're dealing with. You don't want to risk blowing up our greatest hope for a new power source again, do you?" Zelenka growled, folding his arms over his chest. He glared at Rodney, but with a hint of amusement well hidden underneath. Oh yes, Sheppard thought with a smile. Zelenka knew which of Rodney's buttons to push to get his own way.

The Canadian opened and closed his mouth like a gaping fish--a very angry, slightly guilty gaping fish--before Rodney responded. "I'll have you know, nobody could have gotten Arcturus to work--not even the Ancients!--but somebody had to try!"

Radek continued to scowl wordlessly at Rodney, who shrank visibly for a second before ostentatiously throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, have it your way, then!" he relented, snatching up his touch-tablet and alligator clips. Zelenka smiled and muttered something to himself in Czech before he rounded up the other scientists and put them back to work.

Rodney clipped the gators onto two of the lit crystals in the panel, prodding the screen angrily every now and then. Sheppard had to admit, he looked just like a petulant little kid. After half a second McKay glanced around the room, and Sheppard knew he was looking for a scape goat. His eyes fell upon a cluster of engineers who had not moved fast enough to escape before McKay rounded on them. One was even still gaping open-mouthed at Rodney conceding defeat to Zelenka.

"What is this, an idiot convention? Back to work, all of you! And you, Guh, Gah, ah...Grayson, close your mouth before you catch a fly," Rodney barked.

The scrawny man with thick glasses jumped self-consciously, and closed his mouth with a small snap, blushing furiously. He muttered something John didn't quite catch under his breath, but he got back to work fast enough. Sheppard couldn't help but chuckle to himself as the room suddenly bustled with activity again. Some were installing screens on the walls, others monitoring laptops and touch-tablets similar to McKay's.

Once the normal babble of conversation started up again, Sheppard decided that the science department had Rodney well in hand, and that he should just leave them to their work for now. He had a run to finish, after all. Plus, John figured he could pop in again on his way back, and maybe try to coax McKay out of the lab long enough for some breakfast.

He hadn't gone too far before he heard alarms and--more disturbingly--screams coming from the room he'd just vacated. John sped back down the hallway to the lab, dismayed by what he saw. Most of the equipment the team had been setting up just a few minutes ago was fried, and blue sparks still licked across the crystals in the control panel where Zelenka and McKay were frantically working.

Thankfully only one lab technician--that Sheppard could see--was on the ground, suffering from burn injuries by the look of it. The rest were scrambling around the newly set up equipment, trying to disconnect it all from the Ancient power conduits that lined the walls, their movements etched with fear, pain, and confusion.

As for the Ancient device, the main console was still dark, but the machine--_what did they call it_, Sheppard wondered vaguely, _a manufactory_?--was humming. The thing that John had thought was a glass marble flickered and shifted, its outer surface rippling like a stargate wormhole's event horizon, distorting his view of the wall through it.

Sheppard quickly strode across the room, narrowly avoiding a collision with the Japanese woman whose name eluded him, and he knelt next to the burned victim on the floor. This was that 'Grayson' guy Rodney had just vented his anger on a couple of minutes ago, John dimly realized as he checked the injured man's pulse. Sheppard couldn't help but wince at the poor shmoe's run of bad luck. First, he took the full force of Rodney's sour mood, and now this. Well, at least he had a strong pulse and was responsive. Tapping his radio, he called Dr. Carson Beckett, Atlantis's head of medicine, to send an emergency medical team immediately to the East Pier.

When he was done, Sheppard looked up at the scientists and lab technicians. Some were nursing various minor burns and others clutching the stray bits of equipment that still worked, all hanging around in the background to give McKay and Zelenka plenty of room around the machine to work. John realized how hard it must be for them, knowing that there was nothing they could do at the moment to help solve the problem at hand. He was feeling a bit like that himself. Of course, unlike them, he wasn't afraid of Dr. McKay, and couldn't help but nose his way into any bad situation. Standing up, Sheppard turned towards Rodney and the machine.

He paused mid-stride to study the device once again though, frowning to himself. A small opening had appeared in the manufactory directly above the rippling droplet, where a pointed red crystal slowly emerged. Sheppard watched, mesmerized, as energy collected within the crystal, causing it to glow. Suddenly a laser shot out of its point, hitting the top of the undulating bubble and penetrating through its outer surface. Once inside the sphere, the crimson beam of light no longer behaved normally. It bended and twisted inside the tiny bubble before diffusing out like a steady stream of red dye being poured into water, filling the bubble with soft red light until it was completely opaque.

Rodney sat up suddenly, the way he sometimes did when he just had a brilliant idea, startling Sheppard out of his daze. John approached the other two as Rodney's eyes quickly scanned the surface of the console, his hands hovering expectantly.

"What's going on?" John asked, trying to speak loud enough to be heard over the alarm without actually shouting.

Zelenka jumped and stared at him as if he'd materialized out of thin air, but Rodney ignored him--whether intentionally or because he just hadn't heard Sheppard was a good question.

"There was a power surge when we tried to turn on our equipment," Zelenka explained, leaning towards Sheppard so he wouldn't have to talk as loudly. "Fried nearly everything, and caused the manufactory to activate."

"And what does this manu--ah...factory manufactorate?" Sheppard asked nonchalantly.

Radek raised an eyebrow and smiled at the pilot's attempt at humor. "Zero-Point Modules," he stated simply, and John had to do a double-take.

"What?" he exclaimed. ZPMs? That got Sheppard's attention for sure. Why hadn't he been notified earlier of this machine?

In the mean time, the Canadian had rested his hands gently on the main console. Nodding to himself, started pushing buttons.

"We need to get this thing on, so we can know what the hell the manufactory is doing," he called over his shoulder, ducking as a shower of sparks shot seemingly out of nowhere, spraying all over him before fizzling out.

The Czech scientist opened his mouth to argue, but Rodney cut him off. "Most of our equipment is fried, Radek, and by the time we hook up replacements, it could be too late. Trust me, this is the only way!"

"But--" Radek started, and this time it was John who cut him off.

"McKay's right! We've got to get this ZPM manufactor, or whatever it is, offline now!" John pointed to the rippling red sphere that was getting brighter by the second. "Maybe this way you'll at least be able to turn it off, instead of having to destroy it."

Rodney jumped nearly a foot and a half when he heard Sheppard behind him. Obviously, he hadn't known that John was there after all. "When did you--wait--destroy it?" Dr. McKay stammered, his hands hesitating over the keypad as confusion warred with anxiety on his expressive face.

"Just get the console on, McKay," Sheppard shouted a bit louder than he meant to, making Rodney jump a little bit again. Mumbling angrily to himself, the scientist hunched over the console again, pushing buttons. John could have sworn Rodney was just pushing them at random as seconds seemed to stretch into years. Thankfully, McKay knew what he was doing, and the screen came on.

"Here we go!" Rodney exclaimed triumphantly, but his smile sank immediately as he read the screen. "That's impossible..." he said mostly to himself as he pushed another button, changing the information displayed on the screen.

"What?" Sheppard badgered him. Even Zelenka seemed poleaxed by whatever it was onscreen. "What does it say?" John couldn't read Ancient, so he'd have to wait until one of the two eggheads finally recovered enough to answer his question.

"Oh, this is so not good," Rodney murmured, his eyes widening with fear.

---oOo---

**TBC**


End file.
